They are manufactured by extruding heated corn dough through a die that forms the particular shape. They may be ball-shaped, curly (“cheese curls”), straight, or irregularly shaped. Some are even shaped as animals or other objects. Some cheese puffs are puffy while others are crunchy.

Cheese puffs were invented in the United States of America in the 1930s; there are two competing accounts. According to one account, Edward Wilson and/or Clarence J. Schwebke of the Flakall Corporation of Beloit, Wisconsin (a producer of flaked, partially cooked animal feed) deep-fried and salted the puffed corn produced by their machines, and later added cheese.[2] He applied for a patent in 1939 and the product, named Korn Kurls, was commercialized in 1946 by the Adams Corporation, formed by one of the founders of Flakall and his sons.[3] Adams was later bought byBeatrice Foods.

Folsom is fortunate to have a long time family owned and operated bowling alley that has been around for many years and over the past several, has evolved into a state of the art family entertainment bowling center.

Come check out the new FLB Entertainment Center, with comfy couches, and a remodeled bowling center & party room. You can now reserve bowling lanes directly through their website! www.FLB365.com

Located in the very same complex you will also find (for the adults) FLB Sports Bar & Casino which has a new 20 tower super cold draft system featuring many great local craft beers. Did you know they have been voted Best Sports Bar 5 years in a row now. (why haven’t you been there yet?)

Watch all your favorite sporting events & UFC fights on one of their 37 HD TV’s & their New GIANT 80″ LED HD TV for the best viewing experience in town!

I happened to be sitting in the Whole Foods Beir Garden enjoying a Lockdown Brewing Company beer when I spied a strange looking pink beer bottle. Upon closer look I found it to be a beer by Rogue Ales called Voodoo Doughnut Bacon Maple Ale.

I had to try it. Bought it and later that night had a tasting and wow! The super incredible smokey maple bacon flavors were intense and very flavorful. This was the most interesting and unique beer I’ve ever tasted.

Here’s what Rogue says about their beer:

Rogue Ales has collided with Voodoo Doughnut to create Bacon Maple Ale! This unique creation contains a baker’s dozen number of ingredients including bacon and maple syrup from one of Voodoo’s signature doughnuts.

To add, if you enjoy smoked foods, you must try this beer. It may be hard to find, but if it is stock at your local store, you won’t miss that pink bottle in the beer section. This beer would taste good with a variety of foods, from entree’s to deserts.

According to Fine & Wine magazine these are the best burger places in the USA. I am not at all surprised to see the first place on the list…. California’s own In-N-Out! Congrats!

The burger, America’s quintessential comfort food, can now be enjoyed in an impossibly endless number of ways. There are round-the-clock burgers at 24-hour-roadside joints and ephemeral late-night burgers sold out in mere minutes; burgers grilled in hundred-year-old cast-iron broilers and burgers steamed in state-of-the-art ovens; burgers crafted from Kobe beef imported from Japan and burgers made with Black Angus beef from just down the road; burgers innocuously topped with melted American cheese and burgers piled high with crumbly, statement-making Roquefort cheese. It’s clearly a great time to love the burger. Here, we’ve singled out the 25 best burgers around the country.

By Ratha Tep, Lawrence Marcus

California: In-N-Out Burger

Even superstar chef Thomas Keller is a fan of the West Coast chain—and with good reason. The cooked-to-order burgers are made from Harris Ranch beef and served with hand-cut fries. For a messier, more indulgent experience, order your burger “Animal Style” for extra sauce and chopped grilled onions. in-n-out.com

Star chef Linton Hopkins announces “burger time”—10 p.m.—with the ringing of two bull horns; that’s when two dozen grass-fed beef burgers are up for grabs and consistently sold out within minutes. The burgers are also available on the Sunday brunch menu. holeman-finch.com

There’s no sign, yet dedicated fans—a certain president included—come here for the freshly ground burgers with and complimentary toppings like grilled onions and mushrooms sautéed in sherry and Cognac.

New Haven, CT: Louis’ Lunch

Signature Burger: The Original Burger (prepared with a combination of chuck and sirloin beef).

Many restaurants claim to be the birthplace of the hamburger. Louis’ Lunch, in New Haven, Connecticut, since 1900, is a leading contender. The meaty hand-shaped patties are grilled on antique cast-iron broilers over an open flame. louislunch.com

While at Costco yesterday we were looking to buy some salmon. They have farm fillets, wild fillets and to our surprise they had whole salmon for $4.99 a pound. We decided to get the whole salmon and I would fillet it myself.

This is about the biggest fish I’ve purchased and I figured I would fillet it and smoke half and save the other half for grilling etc.

This was my first time filleting a salmon and I think I did ok. Made two very nice fillets and managed to get all the ribs and pin bones out a-ok. Even manged to scrape the bones and get a cup of meat for the cats to enjoy, they went nuts over the fresh salmon bits.

Over the years food presentation at restaurants has become a form of art that just keeps getting better and better as new chef’s emerge on the scene with their creativity. No longer are the protein, and sides just thrown on a plate to be eaten, now they are placed artfully and carefully with great skill for an appealing presentation factor, and it works.

The first thing about a dish is it’s presentation, how does it look to you? Is it appealing? Is it appetizing? Most importantly – is it something you want? I’ve had some really great food that looked like garbage because of lack of presentation, and on the flip side I’ve had some mediocre food that was presented so well that it nearly made up for the lack of taste.

Foods, with all their different textures, tastes and colors are like different shades in the color spectrum that the chef/artist uses to meld together just right to create beautiful “paintings” of their culinary presentations.

This section is going to be used to show some off some local talent for dishes I think are worthy of telling others about. (in other words it looks and tastes good to me heh).

It’s amazing how many wild, crazy and cool food holidays there are. Did you know there is a National Ice Cream Day? (BTW, it’s today!) Did you know there was a National Chocolate Pecan Pie Day? And with dozens of other national food holidays in the month of August, you can literally celebrate a different dish every day of the month. Go ahead . . . why not allow the gastronome-in-you to partake of as many August food holidays as you dare to.

National Mustard Day: The First Saturday
August 1: National Raspberry Cream Pie Day
August 2: National Ice Cream Sandwich Day
August 3: National Watermelon Day
August 3: Grab Some Nuts Day (pecans, walnuts, not the other kind)
August 4: National Lasagnas Day (Americanized to Lasagna)
August 5: National Waffle Day
August 5: National Oyster Day
August 6: National Root Beer Float Day
August 7: National Raspberries in Cream Day (Fresh or Raspberry Ice Cream)
August 8: National Zucchini Day
August 8: National Frozen Custard Day
August 9: National Rice Pudding Day
August 10: National Banana Split Day
August 10: National “S’Mores Day”
August 11: National Raspberry Tart Day
August 12: Julienne Fries Day
August 13: National Filet Mignon Day
August 14: National “Creamsickle Day”
August 15: Lemon Meringue Pie Day
August 16: Bratwurst Day
August 16: National Rum Day
August 17: National Vanilla Custard Day
August 18: National Soft Ice Cream Day
August 19: Potato Day
August 19: Hot & Spicy Food Day
August 20: Lemonade Day
August 20: National Chocolate Pecan Pie Day
August 21: National Pecan Torte Day
August 22: National Spumoni Day
August 22: Eat a Peach Day
August 23: National Sponge Cake Day
August 24: National Peach Pie Day
August 25: Whiskey Sour Day
August 26: National Cherry Popsicle Day
August 27: National Pots de Crème Day
August 27: Banana Lover’s Day
August 28: National Cherry Turnover Day
August 29: More Herbs, Less Salt Day
August 29: Chop Suey Day
August 29: Lemon Juice Day
August 30: National Toasted Marshmallow Day
August 31: Eat Outside Day
August 31: National Trail Mix Day

How can you celebrate a food holiday? Food celebrations are as simple or as elaborate as you want them to be. Learn about a food you didn’t know a lot about . . . Try a new recipe and make something special for a loved-one or co-worker . . . . Attend a related festival, farmers market, or restaurant. The most important thing to do is – eat good and have fun!

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By Sarah B. Weir and Lori Bongiorno Posted Mon Aug 8, 2011 2:04pm PDT Guess how much protein is in a juicy, 8-ounce cheeseburger washed down with a milkshake? This single meal contains two to three times as much as most people need per day. It’s no great surprise that Americans chow down on a lot […]

According to Fine & Wine magazine these are the best burger places in the USA. I am not at all surprised to see the first place on the list…. California’s own In-N-Out! Congrats! The burger, America’s quintessential comfort food, can now be enjoyed in an impossibly endless number of ways. There are round-the-clock burgers at […]